All Hallows
**Hope you have a spook-tacular** Halloween!
Austin: the music
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| Local artist, Bob Schnyder, rockin Threadgills on his bday. |
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| Festival time! |
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| First show of the day |
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| Reppin’ the 206 |
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| Smuggle complete 🙂 |
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| Decisions, decisions |
Wow, I can’t believe I almost forgot to post this – whoops! The music, espec. Austin City Limits (ACL), was the main reason for our trek to Texas. We started off our musical journey at Threadgills prior to ACL weekend and were treated to a birthday show by the local artist Bob Schnyder. Oh man, he was good (and kinda sexy in that weird, frontman way). He rapped, he played the guitar, he sang funny/sick ‘n twisted lyrics….very entertaining! It was a good taste of the local scene – glad we were able to go (thanks Carlos!).
We were hoping to attend all three days of ACL, but financially, that wasn’t going to fly so we opted for Sunday only. For the first time in my life, I did not stress about getting my hands on tickets prior to the show and decided that we’d just haggle on the streets. Haggling actually paid off real nice like and we had no problems finding bracelets AND paying less that the ticket price for ’em. Yeah buddy!
This was my first time at a large scale festival like this and I must say, it was a bit intimidating. There were so many freaking people – it was nuts. We took in a few shows that afternoon including The Lumineers, which should have been on a larger stage, then watched the amazeballs Crystal Castles as the sun set. After an afternoon of mostly guitar playing, I was ready for their crazy techno beats, loud bass and screamy emo lyrics. I loved every minute of that show and I’d put it as the top performance we saw that day. We capped off the evening with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which were, well meh. The crowd was so big and we were pretty far back so there wasn’t a whole lot to see. Plus, they haven’t really put out anything good in quite a few years.
If we end up back in Austin next year for ACL, I think I’d like to get a bit crazy and go all out for all three days to really get that festival experience!
Currently.
Loving: Wearing black from head to toe. Black used to be my go to wardrobe color (like most gals) and I tried very hard to get away from it for many years. Jewel tones were embraced, earth tones began to make an appearance and OMG even neons snuck their way into my closet! But alas, I’ve come full circle and black is back my friends. Head to toe, gloriously slimming black.
Reading: After reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed, about her experience hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, I was still feeling the trail love/adventure and thought I would give Hiking Through by Paul Stutzman, a shot since it was about the PCT’s sister trek the Appalachian Trail. Unfortunately, this book had far too many religious references and too little trail descriptors so I quickly thumbed through it, trying to salvage my read by finding the more interesting parts. I would like to eventually find a good book about this trail so any suggestions are welcome!
Watching: NFL, but not by choice. We are a one TV household and it seems like it’s been taken over by football, which will soon be taken over by basketball, which will run through next spring. Arg. This gal is not a sports fan and navigating through the gauntlet of games leaves a girl agitated. We’ve put in place a series of household rules to try and quell my viewing frustration, but it seems like the only permanent solution would be to get a second TV.
Thinking about: Christmas. I know, I know. It’s like I’ve skipped over fall and headed straight into winter! Fall is great and all, but there are only so many pumpkin spice lattes a girl can drink before her pants start fitting a bit too snug. I’m devising a new budgeting plan for the holiday season – ie. I make a budget and stick to it for once.
Surprised by: How little I’ve been to the gym lately. I know it’s good for me and I know I feel way better after going but I just. can’t. seem. to. get. my. butt. in. gear. I’m toying with the idea of lunchtime workouts to get myself out of the office because once I spend the evening commuting home, cooking dinner and walking the dog, I’m spent. I think there are enough yoga/pilates studios around my neck of the woods to pull the ‘first time student’ class discounts to last me a few months.
Making me sad: Waking up to darkness and coming home to darkness which leads to shorter, unexciting sidewalk walks with my pup Stella vs. fun, woodsy walks which I know she prefers. I love to see her frolic and sniff around off leash and there’s far less of that during these colder months. I hate walking in the rain (so does she) and it’s scary to walk alone in the dark even though my neighborhood is plenty safe. I’m hoping daylight savings might help give me a bit of help on this one.
Making me happy: Clamming tides are posted and we’ve tentatively set a date to go in mid-November. Clamming is my #1 fav activity and it’s become a big event that friends and family look forward to every year. We usually rent a house by the beach, bring plenty of yummy food and spend the weekend diggin’ clams and drinking a bit too much.
**this blog post was inspired by http://sometimessweet.com/ – check her out!
Austin: Barton Springs
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| Barton Spring – spring fed pool no doubt |
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| Lap swim time |
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| Me and the BF |
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| Pool greens |
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| On duty |
After our first failed attempt, I was glad that we could fit a trip to Barton Springs Pool into our last day in Austin. Although it could have been a bit warmer out, the place was nearly deserted and we had a large patch of lawn to ourselves. Barton Springs is a man-made recreational swimming pool located on the grounds of Zilker. The pool sits in the channel of Barton Creek and is filled by water from Main Barton Spring, the fourth largest spring in Texas. I’ve heard that the water stays a crisp 68 degrees year round, which would feel very, very nice in the middle of summer.
We spent a few hours here relaxing and playing cards and I was the only brave one to go in. It was mighty cold, but I figured I’d probably only have one chance to experience this so I slowly creeped my way in. After splashing around for a bit, the water was quite manageable and I took a nice, long lap swim. My only regret was that I didn’t have goggles. I would have loved to see what was going on under the surface as I swam over rock formations and patches of underwater plants! Quite a unique experience for this former HS swim teamer.
Austin: the food
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| East Side King Food Truck |
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| Hopdoddy |
Well, I can safely say that we did not go hungry while in Austin. I don’t even recall feeling any sort of hunger pains at any point during our trip, which usually happens to me on vacation when I can’t constantly snack. Vegetarian, tex mex, burgers, pork belly, hum bows….you name it, we probably ate it that week. I was sort of relieved to come home and detox a bit. I think at one point, I noticed that I had ordered an entree with pork belly every night for the first few nights. When in Rome, I guess……
Beside our infamous trip to Franklin BBQ, we visited many other food trucks and establishments, all of which were extremely good. Austin has a killer food truck community and you can find them paired up all over the parking lots of Austin. We only ate at a few, but if I find myself back in Austin again, I will def want to hit more of these up! And remember kids, it’s always BYOB!
Places we chowed down at included:
Elizabeth Street Cafe – pricier French/Vietnamese restaurant with yummy, booze punches that are good for sharing
Torchy’s Tacos – a famous taco truck with locations all over the city – their deep fried avocado tacos are a must
Hopdoddy Burger Bar – an inexpensive but all natural burger joint with a weird way of getting your food (you wait in line, order a drink, wait in line some more, order your burger, then they seat you) everything is organic/local/made to order
East Side King – a food truck run by Top Chef winner Paul Qui, located in the back lot of a bar featuring all sorts of goodies including beet fries, Brussels sprout salad, beef tongue and pork belly humbows – just order 1 of everything off of their menu and you won’t be disappointed
Austin Java – a good breakfast joint near Zilker Park with lots of veg/vegan options
Chuy’s – famous tex mex place with that kitchy diner feel on the inside but OMG, cheap margaritas and queso? sign me up.
